Notes: Albania was never really a part of the Soviet sphere of influence, and
early on after World War 2, it isolated itself from the West as well. For a long
time, the only country with whom it really maintained friendly relations was
China; China, in fact, supplied virtually all of Albania’s weapons and even some
military training for some 50 years, until Albania decided to "reintroduced
herself to the world," so to speak, in 1997.

One of the infantry weapon that Albania received tons of was the Chinese copy
of the AKM, the Type 56. At first, the Albanians used the Type 56s as they were,
but they gradually made modifications to suit local manufacturing methods and
perceived needs, creating essentially a new set of AKM variants. The Albanian
military refers to these rifles as the Type I, Type II, and Type III Assault
Rifles; however, the troops generally call all three of them AK-47s (and even
call the unmodified Type 56s by the name of AK-47 as well).

The Type I is more or less a direct copy of the Type 56, with only a very few
modifications to suit local manufacturing conditions, and a different finish to
help the rifles cope with the generally abysmal weather conditions in Albania.
There is a also a slight weight difference, as well as a stock with a longer
length of pull to suit the typical somewhat larger-statured Albanian soldier.

Since the Albanians still use a number of the older-style Soviet-type rifle
grenades, they came up with the Type II; this is a Type I with a
grenade-launcher spigot attached to the end of the muzzle. There is a gas cutoff
lever on the right side of the gas port, allowing the Type II to use both older
Soviet, Polish, and Chinese-type rifle grenades as well as the newer BTU rifle
grenades. The rear sight is moved to central location on the upper receiver
cover, and is designed to be used with both the rifle and for firing rifle
grenades. The upper receiver cover has had hinges added at the front instead of
coming completely off when stripping the weapon. The Type II is not able to
mount a bayonet, due to the design of the grenade launcher spigot.

The Type III is also quite similar to the Type 56, but is modified for use as
sort of a designated marksman/squad support weapon. It has a grenade launching
spigot at the end of a slightly-longer barrel than the standard Type 56, but
there is no gas cutoff provision, which means that the use of ballistite
cartridges is essential for firing rifle grenades and the choice of rifle
grenades for the Type III is much more limited. The front sight block has a
special extension with a partial collar, and along with a slight modification in
the grenade launcher spigot, this allows the Type III to mount a bayonet. The
rear sights are also modified to match the extra range afforded by the longer
barrel.

Manufacture of these rifles continued until 1997, when they began to be
replaced with more modern rifles of Russian origin; however, Albania is
reportedly shopping around for even better rifles, though they are severely
limited by the poor condition of the Albanian economy.